Automatic sprinkler system



A. J. LOEPSINGER.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER SYSTEM.

APPLIQAT ON FILED AUG.26| I916 '1',37s,249

Patented May 17,1921;

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NlTED STATES PATENT OFFIC.

ALBERT J. LOEPSINGER, 0F EDGEWOOI), RHODE ISLAND,.ASSIG-NOR TO GENERAL FIRE EXTINGUISHER COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 17, 1921.

Application filed August 26, 1916. Serial No. 116,961.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. LOEPSINGER, a citizen of the United States, residingat Edgewood, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sprinkler Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to automatic sprinkler systems in which pressure tanks are employed for supplyin water to the sprinkler pipes, and is intended to provide a system of this type which can be operated as a dry pipe system without requiring the use of any dry pipe valve, as in the ordinary dry pipe system, or of means for generating pressure in the tank by chemical action as in the case of chemical systems, so called. This object is accomplished in the manner hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates only such parts of the system as are needed for the purpose of explaining my invention and in which Figure 1 shows a portion of the sprinkler pipe system in elevation and the pressure tank in central longitudinal section; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing in detail a check valve hereinafter described.

ln'Fig. 1 of the drawing the sprinkler pipe system is represented by a supply pipe 2, a branch pipe 3 leading therefrom an sprinkler heads 4 mounted on the pipe 3 in the usual manner. The supply pipe 2 is shown as a riser extending downward through the top of the closed pressure tank 5 and terminating near the bottom of the latter, its open lower end being preferably provided with a strainer 6. The tank 5 is shown as containing a quantity of water with a space above it for the reception of compressed air of such volume and pressure that it will suflice to practically empty the tank through the uppermost sprinkler head in the system if necessary, as in the case of an ordinary pressure tank system, but in my present system the sprinkler pipes, instead of being kept full of water, are filled with compressed air having a pressure equal to that of the air confined in the top of the pressure tank, so that when the system -is in its static condition it contams two distinct bodies of compressed air at the service pressure, one in the sprinkler pipe system and the other in the top of the pressure heads.

The means employed for establishing the balanced air pressures in the sprinkler pipe system and in the top of the pressure tank are represented in Fig.1 as consisting of an air supply pipe 7 leading into the riser 2 above the tank 5 and controlled by a hand valve 8, and a by-pass pipe 9 leading from the riser 2 to the top of the tank 5 and containing a check valve 10 which opens toward the tank. The same pipe connections may also be used for introducing the water into the tank, and after this has been done the system is put in commission by forcing compressed air through the pipe 7 until the sprinkler pipe system and the space above the water in the tank are both filled with air at the service pressure, whereupon the valve 8 is closed. The check valve 10 permits the compressed air to pass readily through the pipe 9 into the top of the tank while the system is being charged, but prevents it from passing through said pipe in the opposite direction when the air pressure in the sprinkler pipe system is reduced by the opening of a sprinkler head, so that the unbalanced air pressure in the top of the tank then becomes effective as above described.

The system can be charged with compressedair even if no by-pass pipe 9 is employed, by merely forcing air into the pipe 2, since in such case the air will displace the water in the lower end of the riser and pass into the tank until the air pressure in the latter balances that in the sprinkler pipe system except to an extent represented by the height of the water level in the tank above the bottom of the'riser. The employment of a bypass pipe is desirable, however, not only because it facilitates the charging of the system with the compressed air but also because it enables provision to be made for permitting a slight flow of air from the top of the tank to the sprinkler pipe system to compensate for any leakage which may occur in the system, thus keeping the air pressures exactly balanced under normal conditions. This may be done by means of a perforation 11, shown as formed in the check valve 10, which is so small that it is incapable of equalizing the pressures in case a sprinkler head opens. It will be evident that this perforation need not necessarily be formed in the check valve and also that the check valve itself is not essential, since the air pressure in the top of the tank can be established through a small perforation or other restricted passage located or included in the by-pass pipe if the air is forced slowly into the system, or in part through such a perforation or passage and in part through the lower end of the riser. The tank 5 may of course contain either water or any other fire-extinguishing liquid or solution.

I claim:

1. An automatic sprinkler system comprising a closed tank partly filled with liquid, a sprinkler pipe system including a supply pipe entering the tank and terminating below the normal level of the liquid therein, the sprinkler pipe system and the space in the tank above the level of the liquid being filled with compressed air at the service pressure, and pipe connections for admitting the compressed air to the sprinkler pipe system and thence to the airspace in the tank.

2. An automatic sprinkler system comprising a closed tank partly filled with liquid, a sprinkler pipe system including a supply pipe entering the tank and terminating below the normal level of the liquid therein, the sprinkler pipe system and the space in the tank above the level of the liquid being filled with compressed air at the service pressure, a by-pass pipe connecting the supply pipe and the air space in the tank, means for preventing free flow of air from the tank through the by-pass pipe, and pipe connections for admitting the compressed air to the sprinkler pipe.

3. An automatic sprinkler system comprising a closed tank partly filled with liquid, a sprinkler pipe system including a supply pipe entering the tank and terminating below the normal level of the liquid therein, the sprinkler pipe system and the space in the tank above the level of the liquid being filled with compressed air at the service pressure, a by-pass pipe connect-' ing the supply pipe and the air space in the tank and containing a check valve arranged to open toward the tank, and pipe connections for admitting the compressed air to the sprinkler pipe system.

4. An automatic sprinkler system comprising a closed tank partly filled with liquid, asprinkler pipe system including a supply pipe entering the tank, and terminating below the normal level of the liquid therein, the sprinkler pipe system and the space in the tank above the level of the liquid being filled with compressed air at the service pressure, a bypass pipe connecting the supply pipe and the air space in the tank and containing a check valve arranged to open toward the tank and a restricted pressure-equalizing passage, and pipe connections for admitting the compressed air to the sprinkler pipe system.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this 23rd day of August, 1916.

ALBERT J LOEPSINGER. 

